ABSTRACT
'Sounds of silence:
narrative research with inarticulate subjects'
Tim Booth and
Wendy Booth
Disability and Society,
11(1), 1996 , pp. 55-69
This article addresses
the challenge of using narrative methods with people who have
learning difficulties. Such informants present four particular
interview problems: inarticulateness; unresponsiveness; a concrete
frame of reference; and difficulties with the concept of time.
The authors focus on the first two of these problems and argue
that neither of them constitutes an insuperable barrier to people
telling their story. Drawing on detailed interview material from
an informant with learning difficulties, the authors set out
to show in practical terms how these problems might be tackled,
emphasising in particular the importance of being attentive to
what goes unsaid. They conclude that researchers should put more
emphasis on overcoming the barriers that impede the involvement
of inarticulate subjects in narrative research instead of dwelling
on their limitations as informants.
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